Imiquimod 5% cream is an acceptable treatment option for external anogenital warts in uncircumcised males

OBJECTIVES: To determine the safety and efficacy of imiquimod (Aldara) 5% cream in the treatment of prepuce-associated warts in uncircumcised males. METHODS: An open-label study in six UK medical centres with 35 uncircumcised males with prepuce-associated warts treated with imiquimod 5% cream three times per week for up to 16 weeks. Other anogenital warts were also treated. RESULTS: Three times weekly application of imiquimod was found to be safe, with erythema as the most commonly reported local skin reaction. Forty per cent of patients had complete clearance of anogenital warts within 16 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Imiquimod cream at a dosing regimen of three times per week, is effective and has an acceptable safety profile in the treatment of prepuce associated warts and other external anogenital warts in uncircumcised males.     

Effect of carnitine supplementation on cardiac function in hemodialyzed children

Thirteen carnitine-deficient children (mean age, 16.1 ±2.56 years) on a three-times-weekly hemodialysis program for at least 1 year, and 11 healthy age matched children were involved in the study. All the patients had stable blood pressure and hemoglobin (Hb) levels with a maintenance dose of erythropoetin and none were digitalized. The total carnitine (TC) and free carnitine (FC) plasma levels were sampled prior to hemodialysis (HD) before and after 3 months of carnitine supplementation. A free carnitine (FC) to acylcarnitine (AC) ratio less than 4 was defined as carnitine deficiency. Intravenous L-carnitine was injected at a dose of 20–4.0 mg/kg three times weekly at the end of each dialysis session for a 3-month period. Echocardiographic examination was performed the day following HD, before and after carnitine treatment. Systolic and diastolic functions of the left ventricle, including the ejection fraction, were measured. Almost all the parameters were significantly different in controls and hemodiaiyzed patients. In carnitine-deficient hemodiaiyzed patients. 3 months of L-carnitine supplementation resulted in a significant increase in blood carnitine levels and the FC/AC ratio, but this was not associated with any significant improvement of cardiac function. Furthermore no significant changes were observed in plasma triglycerides, total cholesterol or other lipoprotein parameters before or after carnitine supplementation. Although there was a moderate increase in mean hematocrit (Hct) and Hb levels, these also did not reach statistically significant levels. These results suggest that the 3 months of carnitine supplementation is not sufficient to ameliorate cardiac function or increase Hb levels in children.     

Country watch: Bulgaria

Eros and Psyche is a club for adolescents based in a youth center in Sofia, Bulgaria. Eros, the ancient Greek god of love, and Psyche, representing the human soul, symbolize the club's activities relating to the psychological and aesthetic aspects of sexuality. The club was started in December 1988 to provide sex education to out-of-school youth, the first attempt to move away from restrictive, medical approaches. Members include pupils, students, workers and even parents. The club meets twice a week for two hours, with specialists from different fields addressing the group, videos, readings and other activities that stimulate discussion. Anyone is free to come and go. Twice a year the club holds training sessions in psychosocial skills that aim to promote self-reflection and help people interact more openly with one another. Each individual is helped to find a personal route to understanding his or her own sexuality. Other clubs have been formed on the Sofia model. To help them organize, the Sofia club has prepared a leaders' manual and is developing a one-week course for club leaders.     

Resource Utilization and Costs of Schizophrenia Patients Treated with Olanzapine versus Quetiapine in a Medicaid Population

ObjectiveCompare annual health-care costs and resource utilization associated with olanzapine versus quetiapine for treating schizophrenia in a Medicaid population.MethodsAdult schizophrenia patients were selected from deidentified Pennsylvania Medicaid claims database (1999–2003). Included patients were continuously enrolled and initiated with olanzapine or quetiapine monotherapy after a 90-day washout period. Treatment costs were calculated for 1-year post-therapy initiation and inflation adjusted to year 2003. To control for selection bias, olanzapine and quetiapine patients were 1:1 matched using an optimal matching algorithm on propensity score, which was generated using logistic regression controlling for demographics, prior drug therapy, utilization, and costs. Treatment costs for the matched cohorts were compared directly, as well as using a difference-in-difference analysis.ResultsA total of 6929 patients treated with olanzapine and 2321 with quetiapine met inclusion criteria. Quetiapine patients appeared more severe at baseline. After propensity score matching, 2321 patient pairs had similar baseline characteristics, including total costs. Compared with matched quetiapine patients, for the 1-year postindex period, olanzapine patients had similar drug costs ($6131 vs. $6014, P = 0.326), lower medical costs ($9897 vs. $11,218, P = 0.0128), and lower total health-care costs ($16,028 vs. $17,232, P = 0.0279). Lower psychiatric hospitalization costs account for most of the total cost difference. Difference-in-difference regression analysis confirmed olanzapine's economic advantage. Further adjusting for baseline variations, the total cost advantage of olanzapine patients was $962 (P = 0.032), and was mostly because of reduced psychiatric hospitalization costs of $992 (P = 0.004).ConclusionSchizophrenia patients treated with olanzapine had lower total costs than quetiapine patients, mostly attributable to reductions in psychiatric hospitalization costs.     

Sexual dysfunction in dermatological diseases

Decrease or loss of sexual function in many chronic diseases has recently attracted significant attention owing to its impact on quality of life. Generic and disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaires measure changes in work, school, social life and emotional status regarding the disease and its treatment. Specific questionnaires have been designed to evaluate changes in sexuality and sexual function. Sexual dysfunction, especially female sexual dysfunction, in different diseases became a popular and important health concern in recent years. There are a lot of studies about sexual dysfunction in the areas of other specialities of medicine, but there are only a few studies in dermatological diseases. In this paper, sexual dysfunction and the studies performed about this subject in dermatology will be reviewed.

Conflict of Interest

None declared.     

Molecular analysis of cutaneous B- and T-cell lymphomas

Among extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, primary cutaneous lymphomas (CLs) represent a consistent group of B- and T-cell malignancies. We investigated the arrangement of Ig and T-cell receptor (TCR) genes, together with the involvement of several oncogenes and the tumor- suppressor gene p53, in a panel of primary cutaneous B- and T-cell lymphomas (CBCLs and CTCLs). Southern blot analysis was performed to detect rearrangements of the Ig, c-myc, bcl-1, bcl-2, bcl-3, bcl-6, and the NFKB2/lyt-10 genes in 52 cases of CBCLs and of the TCR, bcl-3, and NFKB2/lyt-10 genes in 38 cases of CTCLs. tal-1 gene deletions were analyzed in CTCLs by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). p53 gene mutations were assayed using PCR, single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, and direct DNA sequencing in CBCL and CTCL cases. Clonal rearrangements of Ig genes or oncogenes were found in 25 of the 52 CBCLs. In particular, we detected rearrangements of the bcl-1 locus (2 cases), the bcl-2 gene (2 cases), the NFKB2/lyt-10 gene (2 cases), and the bcl-6 gene (1 case); interestingly, 4 of these cases showed a germline arrangement of the Ig genes. Clonal rearrangements of TCR genes were detected in 37 of the 38 CTCLs. Rearrangements of the NFKB2/lyt-10 gene were present in 2 cases and tal-1 gene deletions in 3 CTCL cases; p53 gene mutations were detected in 1 CTCL case. Overall, our data indicate that (1) clonal rearrangement of Ig genes is frequently undetectable by means of Southern blot in CBCLs (60%); (2) genetic lesions are involved in a limited but significant fraction of primary CLs showing a molecular marker of clonality (13/62; 20%); and (3) rearrangements of the bcl-1, bcl-2, or bcl-6 loci, associated with specific subsets of nodal lymphoid neoplasias, are rarely observed in CBCLs. Moreover, our results suggest that tal-1 gene deletions may play a pathogenetic role in non-acute T-cell malignancies and that, in the context of lymphoid malignancies, CLs may represent a favorable target for the possible oncogenic potential of the NFKB2/lyt-10 gene.